Twice-Cooked Pork

Build the Meal Around Twice-Cooked Pork

• Plenty of steamed rice
• A cooling cucumber salad with garlic and vinegar
• Cold beer

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Vegan Fried Rice.

How to Make Twice-Cooked Pork

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1. Simmer the pork belly whole in water with the ginger, spring onion and Shaoxing wine for 30 minutes, until a chopstick pushes into it with slight resistance.

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2. Lift out, cool completely, then refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight — this is what makes clean slicing possible.

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3. Slice the chilled belly into pieces about 2 mm thick and 5 cm across, each with a line of skin, fat and meat.

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4. Heat a wok until smoking, add the oil, then the pork in a single layer. Fry 3 to 4 minutes until the slices curl and their edges brown and crisp.

   Mark done Start 3 min timer

5. Push the pork up the side of the wok and add the doubanjiang to the rendered fat. Fry 45 seconds until the oil turns deep red and smells fragrant.

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6. Add the black beans and garlic for 20 seconds, then the leeks and green pepper. Toss over the highest heat for 2 minutes — the vegetables should stay crunchy.

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7. Add the soy, sugar and Sichuan pepper, toss everything together for 30 seconds, and serve immediately with rice.

   Mark done Start 30 sec timer

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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A Few Notes

Pixian doubanjiang is worth seeking out. Generic chilli bean sauce is sweeter and lacks the fermented depth.

Do not add extra oil at the stir-fry stage. The pork gives you all you need, and more makes the dish greasy.

Chinese leeks or garlic stems are traditional; ordinary leeks are the best widely available substitute.

Ingredient Swaps

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the chilli. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.

Leftovers

Refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat in a hot wok for 2 minutes rather than the microwave, which makes the pork rubbery.

Common Questions

What's in a Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: where a line offers a choice of foods, only one of them is counted. How the figures are worked out.

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